African Agriculture and Food Systems
By Kilimokwanza Walk into a kitchen in Arusha or Kilimanjaro and you are likely to encounter African eggplant. Known locally as nyanya chungu, or bitter tomato, it appears in stews, relishes, and soups across both regions. It is not an exotic ingredient. It is a daily food, a traditional vegetable with deep roots in local […]
A humble tuber grown in the mists of the Southern Highlands is quietly transforming the fortunes of thousands of Tanzanian families. With the founding of the Potato Council of Tanzania and the power of farmer-led programmes, the country is poised to become Africa’s next great potato powerhouse. Kilimokwanza.org –The harvest that changed minds. Songea Municipal Hon. […]
By Kilimokwanza Amaranth, known in Kiswahili as mchicha, is one of the most nutritionally dense leafy vegetables grown in East Africa. Rich in iron, calcium, protein, and vitamins A and C, it is among the greens most frequently mentioned in discussions of food-based approaches to addressing micronutrient deficiencies in the region. It is widely cultivated, […]
By Kilimokwanza On a typical vegetable farm in Arusha or Kilimanjaro, tomatoes occupy a special place. They are grown on nearly half the plot dedicated to them, almost double the land share given to any other vegetable. They receive fertiliser at a rate of 95% of farming households, more than any other crop in the […]
By Kilimokwanza Correspondent The question of why so few Tanzanians eat enough fruit and vegetables is often framed as a market problem, a behaviour problem, or an affordability problem. A baseline evaluation published in July 2025 by researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute and partners suggests it is also, at a foundational level, […]
Ihemi Cluster · Iringa & Njombe · March 2026 Khalid Mgaramo:How public–private trustis actually built By Kilimokwanza Correspondent Ihemi Cluster Field Report · March 2026 Khalid Mgaramo joined SAGCOT in 2017 as an infrastructure specialist in Dar es Salaam, moved to Dodoma in 2018 to establish the policy office during the government’s capital transition, and […]
Farm For the Future, operating from Ilula in Iringa and backed by Norwegian agricultural equipment manufacturers Underhaug AS and Kverneland Group, has launched a formal buy-or-lease offering of modern farm machinery targeting smallholder farmers, AMCOS, and agro-dealers across Tanzania. A Tanzanian agricultural enterprise based in Ilula, Iringa has positioned itself as the country’s newest dedicated […]
A landmark CGIAR evaluation published in July 2025, covering 2,611 households across 33 villages in five districts, has produced the most granular picture yet of what smallholder farmers in northern Tanzania grow, how they grow it, and what the data reveals about why the region’s nutrition crisis is, at its root, a production crisis. In […]
KILIMOKWANZA SPECIAL SERIES: ON AGCOT • WHAT TRANSFORMATION ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE Eighteen portraits from Tanzania’s agricultural corridor • Batch 4: The AGCOT Leadership • kilimokwanza.org The Board Chairman Who Walked the Fields First Dr. Ally Hussein Laay has chaired the AGCOT Centre board since 2018 – through a pandemic, an institutional rebrand, a USD 6.34 […]
KILIMOKWANZA SPECIAL SERIES: ON AGCOT • WHAT TRANSFORMATION ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE Eighteen portraits from Tanzania’s agricultural corridor • Batch 1: The Farmers • kilimokwanza.org The Farmer Who Is Already Thinking About Old Age Raymond Nyagawa farms one acre of potatoes in Mtwango Village and has approximately 100 avocado trees coming into production. When Geoffrey Kirenga […]